In his first mock draft, Keith Law picked high school SS/3B Cornelius Randolph for the Pittsburgh Pirates, a name that has been associated with them often. He also said they could be in on big RHP Cody Ponce from Cal Poly Pomona or Virginia outfielder Joe McCarthy, two names there are rumors that the Pirates are high on. The latter two players could be possibilities with the team’s 32nd overall pick at this point, as one or both should be available there.
For his second mock draft, released on Thursday for Insiders, Law says that the Pirates could still go after a high upside bat like Randolph, but he predicts that they will take talented prep outfielder Daz Cameron. This is the first time I’ve seen Cameron this low, and I’ve actually seen him a few times in the top five, so this would be a big deal if he fell to the Pirates.
Cameron went seventh in Law’s previous mock draft and hasn’t done anything on the field to hurt his rankings since then, so you have to wonder just what Law has heard to drop him 12 spots. There have been a bunch of players shooting up the draft boards lately(Tyler Jay, Tyler Stephenson, Andrew Benintendi), so dropping 2-3 spots wouldn’t be a surprise, and maybe a couple more if you’re looking for a good fit with a certain team. MLB Pipeline has Cameron ranked #12 overall and Baseball America ranks him fifth, though BA seems to be going off a scouting report that has him ranked much better defensively.
The possibility of getting Cameron has to be exciting for Pirates fans, but it’s not something you should get your hopes up for just yet. He could be gone much earlier in the draft. Cameron projects to be a center fielder that hits for both average and some power. He has above-average speed and a good arm, which most say should keep him in center field, but he won’t be anything like his dad. He is the son of long-time Major League center fielder Mike Cameron, who was one of the best defensive center fielders during his playing days. The younger Cameron turned 18 back in January. I’ve included a video below courtesy of Baseball Factory. The first day of the draft is 11 days away.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
Thanks john.
I would rather take Cameron Diaz 🙂
Just adding some levity here!
A huge + 1 !
Getting Cameron would be awesome, but I have serious doubts he drops that far – although stranger things have happened….I like the idea of getting Randolph however.
I love his swing. His whole body is involved and the balance is great. If he falls to us, he kind of seems like a no-brainer, eh?
I would think so. He’s going to hit about .290, get on base, be a 20/20 man and play center field. That is All-Star material
.290? Ceiling, sure, but certainly not realistic. That’s like a 60-70 hit tool.
Maybe it’s prospect fatigue, but Cameron doesn’t excite me. Great athlete, but no real standout tool and reports were that he didn’t hit much against summer competition.
Kid has undoubtedly benefited from his name, seems like he’s been talked about for years already. Who knows, though.
Everyone rates him as a 60 hit tool, that’s exactly where I got the .290 number from. I could have went .280, but he gets a lot of praise for adjusting quickly to pitchers, pitch recognition and plate patience. So yes, I stick by .290 for the exact reason you stated.
Everyone?
” There’s no standout tool here, but there’s also no real weakness, which gives him a chance to be a solid regular—maybe even an all-star if he shows more power in games.” – Baseball Prospectus
“He’s an above average to plus runner with the same kind of bat speed and average raw power, but the game performances were only okay over the summer and he’s facing weak competition this spring.” – FanGraphs
Would enjoy reading other opinions if you have links.
.290 is just really, really tough in today’s game.
Dude, you take everyone’s words as literal, when people *often* speak figuratively. Anyone with an ounce of common sense can discern what he meant.
This is your *MO*, so you can show off your faux *BRILLIANCE*. Obviously he didn’t mean *EVERYONE*. Your quest to be right, makes you look like the self-aggrandizing windbag that you are.
Says the guy who uses terms like “self-aggrandizing windbag ” on the internet. I’m sure that’s in your everyday vocabulary. Sweet handle, by the way.
I don’t need to prove my allegiance to John to anyone. My first comment to Tim when he announced his site was moving behind a paywall was that I hope John is the first writer he brings on full time. I’ve remarked more times than any of you that his coverage of the Pirates draft is the best you’ll find, and that I’d gladly pay my subscription for this work alone.
But I’m not going to sit here and kiss his ass when I don’t agree with him, and I’m certainly not going to commend him when he gets all butthurt for me asking him to list the sources he uses to make his statements. That’s part of the gig.
If John was going out and scouting these players himself, that would be one thing. He’s not. He’s taking other peoples work and processing it in an easily digestible format for us to use; he does it extremely well, and it’s absolutely a valuable service.
But if you’re going to open yourself to comments and questions, you better damn sure be comfortable citing the sources you used to make your opinions.
No one asked you to kiss *ass* when you disagree. You don’t have to be a *moron*and *argumentative * either. You thrive off being both. Not sure what pleasure *you* derive from being that way.
NMR, you question the man expertise, this is what he does for a living and when he engages you and answer your questions you ask him to relax!!! Got to love it, Tim please hire this guy.
His expertise? Of reading other peoples work and reporting to us?
Oh, excuse me.
Sounds like someone is *GREEN* with envy.
You seem pretty cocksure. Why don’t you start your own paid site. Lol.
If you are just going to criticize the one guy on this site who does a crazy amount of homework on not only the draft but a ton of the prospects, why even bother paying for a membership? Stop being a baby
Go to BA, Law and MLB Pipeline, which is the everyone I used. Sorry I didn’t literally check everyone. I go by the people that are the best known for their rankings and have the most sources. I don’t know what you want me to say with him, they rank him as a future 60 hitter, they praise his plate patience, ability to recognize pitches and make adjustments. I was going to say .280, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt since he doesn’t strikeout a lot and has an advanced approach, drives the ball, plus has speed to beat out infield hits. I am sticking by .290 hitter despite Fangraphs and BP sort of, maybe, possibly saying something different if you read too much into them.
Dude, relax. You take this like you scouted him yourself.
I don’t subscribe to BA or Law, just BP, and don’t find MLB Pipeline very reliable or informative, relative to the other outlets. I simply asked where you were getting your information.
Is that the ceiling for a healthy Barrett Barnes?
What is “a healthy Barrett Barnes?”….It probably was at some point, but that is going to be very tough to reach with all his lost development time. Barnes ceiling now is probably .280 hitter/on base guy, 15/15 HR/SB, corner outfielder and his floor is of course very low until he proves he can stay healthy over a long time. He could fall anywhere between never making it and those numbers and I wouldn’t be surprised because he is very talented, plays the game hard/right, but he’s proven to be fragile.
Cameron’s ceiling would actually be a little higher than those numbers, I just don’t like to assume a plus hitter is going to bat .300+ and/or hit 30 homers, which could happen in his best season, but not be what you would expect each year.
Did Barnes have any history of injury issues while at Texas Tech?
It sounds very similar to what projections would have been for Andrew McCutchen?
Yes, probably less power as I believe most were saying 15 homers with him due to his size, and then also more speed. Probably same overall package, but slightly different tools. Very few people were predicting him to be an MVP type, but they were saying All-Star CF is possible
A healthy Barnes is one that plays 90% of the season. AKA a Barnes that we haven’t seen yet but always hoped to.
Nobody thought Meadows would be there for the Bucco’s & nobody seen what happened last year coming either. I love reading about Mock drafts, but there’s a reason why Law & company aren’t employed by a MLB team. Which leads me to a ? Tim has any of these mock draft experts “wink wink” been hired by any teams
Keith Law was for four years before leaving to work for ESPN